ADRA update: Responding to Bangladesh cyclone, Chile earthquake ... The Adventist Development and Relief Agency is responding to the needs of survivors of a cyclone that hit Bangladesh November 15 killing at least 3,100 people, officials said. From its office in Dhaka, ADRA is providing food and basic supplies for 5,000 people in the Barguna region, including the villages of Chorpara and Sadagorpara where 36 people were killed and all houses were destroyed. ADRA is also responding to needs of survivors of a magnitude 7.7 earthquake that hit the Atacama Desert region in northern Chile November 14. The initial response will provide tents, mattresses, and blankets for 70 families. ADRA is also distributing food and clothing for 2,500 survivors in and around the town of Tocopilla, located 21 miles from the epicenter. Local officials report that at least 1,200 homes in the town have been flattened, and more than 4,000 are currently homeless. The earthquake, the largest in Chile since 2004, killed at least two people, injured more than 250 and left an estimated 16,000 homeless. For updates, see www.adra.org

First Nepalese ordained Adventist minister dies ... The first Nepalese ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister, Deep Bahadur Thapa, 66, died September 24. Thapa graduated from Spicer Memorial College in India in 1970 and began working for the church in Nepal at Scheer Memorial Hospital in Banepa. Because Nepal’s constitution did not allow evangelism, Thapa’s official title was “health educator.” He earned a master’s in health science from Philippine Union College in 1978 and was ordained an Adventist minister in 1980. After retiring, Thapa served as a coordinator for the ministry to Bhutan. He is survived by his wife, Miron, four children and three grandchildren. There are now some 5,000 Adventists in Nepal.